reducing to rubble
Leveling a structure
Reducing to rubble means destroying something so thoroughly that only broken fragments remain.
Buildings are reduced to rubble by bombs, earthquakes, or demolition crews.
The phrase extends to abstract destruction: The cross-examination reduced his alibi to rubble.
The image is always of complete devastation—nothing left standing or intact.
- explosivesDetonating substances
- demolitionDeliberate structural destruction
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- pulverizationCrushing into fine particles
wrecking ball · obliteration · firebombing · shock and awe · wreckage · dynamite · blown to bits · ruins · battering ram · collapse · bulldozer · razing · disintegration · ash · shattering · dust · annihilation · sledgehammer
reducing to rubblebuilding
Enclosed roofed structure
constructing · erecting · renovation · rebuilding · restoring
reducing to rubblepreserving
Protecting from deterioration
conserving · protecting · maintaining · safeguarding · fortifying
reducing to rubblerebuilding
Constructing anew after destruction
reconstructing · restoring · renovating · rehabilitating · refurbishing
reduce, reducing, reduced, reducer, reduction, reductions, reducible, irreducible, rubble